Is self harm a sin?

[The Only Exception]

Hi,

Today I was in my sociology class at school and we are in our adolescence unit. In the unit we discuss challenges teens face, such as depression, self harm, sucicide, eating disorders, etc.

When we started talking about self harm, one of the students in my class said it was a sin to cut yourself. I just started cutting about a week ago, but even though I've been clean since, it just really bugged me. I feel...guilty, almost? I don't even know why.

So I guess what I'm asking is: is it a sin to self harm?
Thanks you guys!

[Ennui.]

Hi there,

Personally, I think that this will all depend on who you ask. I think that a lot of things in religion are up to individual interpretation, meaning not everybody is going to follow or believe everything as strictly as others.

I think that some people will think of it as a sin, but in reality, I don't think anyone who does this is intentionally going against what God wants, but they feel as if they don't have any other way to go about things. I don't think you will go to Hell just because you self harm. If there's a God, I don't think that he will condemn you for it, but he wouldn't like to know someone is suffering.

If it makes you feel any better, I've heard of people go to those such as religious leaders for support with things such as self harm before. Of course, not everyone's experiences are going to be the same so I'm not going to say every religious person is going to be this way, but I've heard of at least some people having positive responses from their religious leaders when they seek help, and people can even use religion as an outlet, a way to recover and start seeking something better. Of course, I've also heard of churches where the opposite may happen.

So, as I said, it all depends on how strictly you interpret things. It's not something God would like, but I don't think it's a sin.

Just know that other people may have different opinions than me, but think about how you yourself interpret it, and whether you personally think it's a sin or not. Since not everyone interprets everything the same, you don't automatically have to think it's a sin either, if that makes sense.

-Dez

Hey there,

I think that Dez answered this perfectly. I think a lot of this depends on who you ask. There are going to be different sets of interpretations and what not. There are going to be people who are going to believe that self harm is a sin but there are going to be people who do not believe it is a sin. In my opinion I don't believe it is a sin because I don't think God would hold something like that against someone who he sees is suffering. I think that a lot of religion can be based on interpretation which is where people get lost.

There are a lot of people who believe that self harm is a sin out of lack of knowledge. They have this belief in God and very little knowledge about self harm itself. When you lack knowledge about something it can sometimes cause you to fall into some misconceptions.

I hope that this helped in some way and I am wishing you the best of luck.

[Catharsis.]

Hi there, Em!

As Dez and Jenna have stated, it really depends on who you ask. As well as varying from person to person, and it can vary from denomination to denomination as well. I was raised a Roman Catholic, and Catholicism is a pretty big tent with it comes to views on these kind of topics. When my parents found out about my SH, they didn't bring up anything about it being sinful. However, we made it clear that we wouldn't tell my grandparents. My grandmother lectured me once on how suicide/SH was sinful in her eyes.

Some more evangelical-ish, conservative denominations would be less accepting, while most non-denominational groups or more liberal denominations of Christianity would be more open. Now, like Dez said, a lot of people find religion as a useful outlet for recovering from SH and other personal issues, like I have, personally, to some extent. I know of some groups in and around my city for young people which encourage their recovery from personal problems through faith in God and youth activities, so sort of like outreach groups. These are organised by religious leaders within Catholicism, which, in my opinion, says a lot about how it isn't always completely closed off to self-harmers. Again, you have other churches which treat SH as a grave sin, a sort of evil which needs to be expelled from the person's soul.

So, it's down to personal interpretation, as well as possibly what the denomination you belong to teaches on the topic. I'd be personally surprised if a majority of churches would reject or look down on you for self-harming, and that's my perspective.

All the best!

~ Gareth

[BeauFeauSheau]

Thank you so much for bringing up this question. I've been wondering this for a while. I've been raised being told that it was sinful, and I believe there is bible verse in the King James's version, but I'm not completely sure.
Even if it does say it, I really doubt any God would condemn for something like that.

[Philomath]

Hi There,

I agree with what has been said before.
The Bible does have the following verse in regards to the body being God's Temple that is commonly used as a way to encourage self harmers who believe in God to respect there body. I actually saw it in a devotional for people that cut.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20: 19*Do you
not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20*you were bought at a
price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

I believe that God does hurt because He sees His children hurting so much however I do not believe that He would condemn someone for hurting themselves.